Too Late
by Ephemeral Blossoms
Summary: When nothing was left, she gave him hope. SasuSaku.  Oneshot.


A/N: This is my first piece so please don't flame. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Italics represent Sasuke's or Sakura's thoughts depending on the time. You should be able to tell whose thoughts they are. Bold italics represent a flashback. This takes place during part II/Shippuuden.

Summary: When nothing was left, she gave him hope. SasuSaku. Rated T.

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own, or will ever own, Naruto or it's characters or it's settings etc...It is all property of Masashi Kishimoto.

_**Too Late**_

__

He was falling.

_Is this really happening?_

Red eyes with three black tomoe were locked onto the vision of a man falling into a pool of his own blood. The body hit the ground with a _thud_. The black cloak he wore instantly became red, absorbing all of the crimson liquid, the red clouds patterning the cloak lost within the blood.

_Have I…done it?_

The red eyes stared at the fallen body. The fallen man's eyes opened up, revealing the mangekyou sharingan. Their scarlet eyes rivaled each others until the owner of the mangekyou spoke weakly,

"You have tested my capacity well. Unfortunately, mine wasn't..." Uchiha Itachi coughed up blood, "…good enough." His body then ceased to move.

"Nii-san…"

Uchiha Sasuke stared at the corpse of Uchiha Itachi for what felt like hours. He couldn't have really killed Itachi. If he did, wouldn't he have felt…happy?

_Is this genjutsu? Did he use the tsukuyomi on me to think that I won? Or is he really gone?_

Sasuke kicked the body of his dead brother. He was waiting for the genjutsu to end, for him to have to finish his battle with his brother, to feel happy for once. He stood at the battleground and waited. The moment of awakening from the genjutsu never came.

"Team Hebi is waiting for me to tell them if I killed Itachi-nii-san…" Sasuke murmured. He felt a sudden stabbing pain in his left arm. The battle had left him weak. He moaned and limped away, wounds littering his body, blood trickling down his right leg.

_It's not a trick…It's real…Where's the happiness I've been waiting for? The emotion that drove me to leave Sakura and Naruto? What I've been waiting for for so long…_

Rain began to pour, washing away the blood from the fierce battle. Sasuke felt tears slip down his cheek for the first time in seven years.

_Why did I kill Nii-san? Back then…He truly was…my closest friend.__ Maybe…things could have been different? No, they couldn't have! This was my destiny._

Sasuke fell to his knees and sobbed for the first time in his life. What had possessed him to kill his brother, his last family member? Even Uchiha Madara had been killed by the ninjas of Konoha. And why was he feeling regret towards the loss of his brother? It was everything he had been wanting since he was eight! Or was it even regret? The act that Itachi had played when they were young was all fake. Sasuke couldn't even understand his own emotions anymore.

The last Uchiha eventually stood up in his black cloak and stumbled through the rain towards where Team Hebi was waiting.

_What…What is there left for me to do? I spent my whole life focused on killing nii-san…There's nothing left to live for…Nothing…_

Sasuke stopped walking and looked up into the black sky, rain continuing to fall. It was so nostalgic…It was almost exactly like two years ago…

"_**Chidori!"**_

"_**Rasengan!"**_

_**Two adolescents. Two destinies that had crossed paths. Two powerful jutsu. Two boys, fingers entwined.**_

_**The battle between a twelve year old Sasuke and Naruto had left them both weak. It was the fight of their lives, leaving them with their true feelings in the open. They really had become best friends…but it was too late.**_

Sasuke began to cough up blood. He wiped his chin with his hand and saw Team Hebi waiting in the distance.

"SASUKE-KUN!!!!!" Karin screamed happily, waving.

"Hmph," Suigetsu smirked.

Juugo said nothing.

"Hey," Sasuke smiled slightly,"Job's done."

"What's next?" Suigestu asked.

Sasuke thought for a moment, "…Nothing."

"Guess that means that our team's goal is done. Time to disband," Suigetsu smirked.

Sasuke hesitated but realized that he was right.

"I'll stay with Sasuke-kun if he wants me to!" Karin flirted.

"It's okay…Bye," Sasuke almost whispered as he walked away.

_Where am I going to go now? I don't even know exactly where I am now…I think…I'm in Fire Country._

Sasuke almost looked back at the disbanded team. For some reason, he had never imagined saying goodbye. Was it…painful? He didn't know. He couldn't feel. He was so…numb

"Naruto…Sakura…I want…to go home. But where is home?" Sasuke found himself saying automatically. He gasped. He thought he had cut off his ties with other people.

The teen had walked for about 10 minutes when a surge of emotion spread throught his body. Tears of sorrow, regret, anger, and frustration poured down his face all at once.

_Is this the life I really chose to live? _

Sasuke knew in the back of his mind that he had never severed any bonds. He had dreams and sometimes even nightmares in his sleep about Team 7. Sometimes, he almost threw up from all the stress of his past.

_Nothing left to live for…Sakura and Naruto would never take me back…Only one thing left to do._

3 days later…

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!!"

Sakura turned around to see Naruto running towards her. She had been walking through Konoha towards Tsunade-sama's office that afternoon when Naruto had screamed out her name.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"GUESS WHAT, DATTEBAYO!!"

"Just tell me, Naruto!" Sakura smiled. Naruto could always make her smile…But it wasn't the same. It could never be the same smile she smiled two years ago. She didn't know if she could smile the same way again.

"I heard that Uchiha Itachi was killed! By Sasuke too, dattebayo! They say that his body was found in some random place a few days from Konoha!!! He's going to come back, I know it!!!"

"Really!?!?" Sakura's jaw nearly dropped. Happiness and adrenaline caused her heart to beat three times faster than usual. For the first time in those two years, she smiled a smile so huge, she thought that she could dislocate her jaw. She was so happy…Just so happy…

_I may be able to see Sasuke-kun again! We can be Team 7 again. We can stay together…Forever…_

"Yeah, but in case he doesn't, we can go out to look for him if you want! There aren't really any missions lined up right now, so Tsunade baa-chan should let us look!" Naruto smiled.

Sakura smiled, "Yeah! I was on the way to her office to ask her if she wanted lunch but I think she's in a meeting anyway. We'll only look for a little while anyway, right?"

"_OH YEAH! LOVERS ALWAYS REUNITE, SHANNARO!" Inner Sakura yelled._

"Naruto…"

"Yeah?"

Sakura hugged Naruto, "Thank-you."

Naruto blushed. He loved Sakura but he knew that Sasuke had won over her heart. He was older and wiser and didn't try to stop her. He would always love her though.

The members of Team 7 minus Kakashi walked towards the village gates. They ran through the forest, looking everywhere for Sasuke.

"Where do you think he'll be?' Sakura asked.

"I don't know, he could be anywhere walking back."

"Let's try looking up to the border. We'll use a space-time jutsu"

"Good idea, Sakura-chan!"

After using the jutsu, the duo came to the Valley of the End.

Sakura looked around but couldn't see Sasuke,"I'm not sure if he's coming back yet, Naruto," She said sadly.

"_**DON'T GO! IF YOU DO, I'LL SCREAM AND –"**_

"_**Sakura…Thank-you."**_

_**Sasuke…kun…**_

"Wait, dattebayo!" Naruto pointed to an area Sakura hadn't looked," Do you see that?"

Sakura's heart skipped a beat.

She could see a tall figure standing in the distance, kunai in hand. His black hair swayed slightly in the wind. His eyes were only looking at the kunai, as if the kunai was all that was left in the world. Those eyes reflected hopelessness and loneliness.

"Sasuke-kun?" she whispered to herself. Then, as if she had a sudden realization about who she was looking at, she screamed, "SASUKE-KUN!!!!"

The tall figure seemed to look at her and widen his eyes.

Naruto turned to look at Sakura, "What's Sasuke doing?" he asked naïvely.

"What do you mean?"

"With the kunai."

Sakura had been so happy to see Sasuke that she hadn't paid attention to the kunai. For a moment, she had no idea what was going on. Suddenly, she realized. Her eyes misted over. Her mind seemed to explode with thought and memories until she had a migraine. A single sentence repeated inside her head and she repeated it out loud:

"He's going to kill himself."

Sasuke looked up from the kunai, noticing a blond figure and pink haired figure far away. His eyes widened. He should have expected them to come and try to stop him.

_Naruto and Sakura._

_How long has it been?_

_I've thought of a path with you too._

_But don't you notice I'm not running to you?_

_That's because I didn't choose that path._

_My path is the weak way out._

_But it's the only way out._

_The only way to escape my pain._

_The pain of killing off my only family._

_The pain of leaving the only bonds I had of love._

_The pain of…_

_Life._

Sasuke took one last look at the scars on his right wrist and plunged the kunai into his chest.

For a moment, he felt nothing. Blood was pouring out of his chest but there was no pain. It was…comforting. Suddenly, it came all at once. The pain was so intense that he went numb. He fell from where he was standing into the river flowing between the two statues and was beyond pain. He saw his life flash before his eyes.

**_"Ugh, Naruto! I'm gonna kill you!" _**

**_"Your lips taste like crap!"  
_**

**"_He has no parents! That's why he's so unruly!"_**

**"_You're annoying."_**

**"_You need a bell by lunchtime!"_**

**"_I swore to kill my own brother…"_**

**"_I see that look of loneliness in your eyes…"_**

**"_I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!"_**

**"_After all this time, you're still annoying."_**

**_IF YOU GO, I'LL SCREAM AND-"_**

**"_Sakura…Thank-you."_**

**"_It's true I've never had family…But when I'm with you…I feel like I have a brother."_**

The last thing Sasuke saw was…her. And she was smiling. Smiling at…himself.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with a look of horror. She couldn't feel anything. She had no idea what was happening. This couldn't be real, could it?

"COME ON SAKURA, WE GOTTA SAVE HIM! YOU HAVE MEDICAL NINJUTSU, HEAL HIM!" Naruto dove into the water to save Sasuke.

Time passed. Sakura couldn't even cry. She felt like she was dreaming. Dreaming an all too terrible nightmare…

Naruto shot out of the water with Sasuke's pale body.

"GET OVER HERE!" Naruto's voice echoed in her head. Sakura ran towards Naruto who was standing on the water by focusing his chakra in his feet. She felt oh so heavy…life was weighing her down…what was happening?

Sakura kneeled by Sasuke who was held by Naruto, both their faces a scary shade of white. She started shaking. She couldn't stand to see her beloved in this state. Tears poured down her face all at once. She began to focus chakra in her hands but she started shaking and the light from her hands diminished.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING SAKURA-CHAN?!? HURRY OR HE'S GONNA DIE! THERE'S BARELY A PULSE, DATTEBAYO!"

His words seemed so far away…

Sakura couldn't even think straight as she fumbled with her chakra.

_Sasuke-kun can't die! His life is in my hands…His life…his life…_

Sakura pulled herself together and summoned up the appropriate chakra to heal Sasuke's wound in his chest. She placed her hands on his chest and focused all her chakra.

"The wound is directly below his heart…There is a chance of saving him…"

Naruto sighed with relief. Sakura smiled slightly.

"Ugh…Sakura? Naruto?"

Sakura gasped and stopped herself from hugging Sasuke as to not worsen his injuries. She held his hand instead but gasped again at the scars on his right wrist.

"Sasuke-kun! What happened? You killed Itachi, so what's wrong?" Sakura asked even though she knew that he wasn't happy. She always knew it would turn out like this…But she could have never imagined that he would attempt to end his own life.

"SASUKEEEEEEEEEEE! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR, YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF, DATTEBAYO!" Naruto yelled, not quite getting the point.

"I…I wasn't happy. I…regret killing Nii-san. Actually…I don't. But…I wonder if things could have been different," Sasuke suddenly started coughing up blood.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura increased the grip she had on his hand. He had internal injuries, but where?

"Sasuke-kun, I love you! Where are you hurt, you can live and we can start a new life together in Konoha!"

"I…I'm not hurt…But…the kunai was poisoned…there is no antidote."

Sakura felt tears burn her face, "Which poison?"

"It was…" Sasuke coughed up more blood, "I don't know it's name…but…it destroys your internal organs…And degenerates all your bones…"

Sakura couldn't find the words to say. She knew of this poison and she did have the cure for it actually. The thing was that it had to be administered right away. At this point with the poison in his system for so long, he was probably paralyzed and both his liver and heart may be heavily damaged. The chance of being able to live was very slim.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura dug into her pack on her shorts and pulled out a small vial. She poured the contents into his mouth. Naruto watched, too stunned to say anything.

"There, you're going to live!" Sakura smiled slightly.

"Sakura…Thank-you…" Sasuke whispered. He clutched her hand and he whispered something barely audible. Sakura couldn't tell if she had truly heard the words escape his lips.

"I love you…"

_I don't want to die anymore_

_I love her too much for my life to end_

_Even if she never loved me back_

_But why didn't I realize until now?_

_I never thought a girl like her could love someone like me_

_But she did_

_I thought I could never make her happy_

_That's what I thought_

_But I could_

_I could…_

_But it's too late now_

_Even for love_

_Oh well…I guess it wasn't that great of a life anyway._

The grip he had on Sakura disappeared.


End file.
